1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to protective head pieces, particularly light weight helmets or helmet shell liners for non-motorized activities.
2. Brief Discussion of the Prior Art
There has long been a need for a lightweight, economical, comfortable, but very effective safety helmet for non-motorized sports enthusiasts. Non-motorized sports activities include bicycling, skiing, and hockey, for example. In these activities, the velocity of impact is less than in motorized vehicle activities, such as automobile travel, snow mobiles, and motor boats. Since the force delivered by an impact is proportional to the square of the impact velocity, impacts from non-motorized activities are substantially smaller, but nevertheless can cause significant skull injury.
Numerous medical journal articles recite typical traumatic injuries to the head which result from bicycle accidents. Specifically, Kitchens, J. L., Groff, D. B.; Basilar Skull Fractures in Childhood with Cranial Nerve Involvement, J. Pediatr. Surg. Aug. 26, 1991 (8); 992-4, and McGuirt and Stook (Temporal Bone Fractures in Children: A Review With Emphasis on Long Term Sequelae, Clinical Pediatrics, January, 1992, page 12) noted that basilar skull fractures may occur in as much as 14% of head injuries in children. West et al (Transsphenoid Basilar Skull Fracture: CT Pattersxe2x80x9d, Neuroradiology, August, 1993, page 329) noted that basilar skull fracture complications in 40 patients included 11 deaths, blindness, cranial nerve injury, CSF (leakage of cerebrospinal fluid), hearing loss and other such injuries.
Published data indicates that of individuals wearing helmets, most impacts occurred on areas of helmets not tested during certification to a standard. All serious head injury occurred when either the helmet; a) came off the wearer""s head, b) collapsed due to a structural defect in the helmet, or c) was struck predominantly below the rim. Current standards fail to identify the basilar skull as requiring protection: see xe2x80x9cStandard Test Methods for Equipment and Procedures Used In Evaluating the Performance Characteristics of Protective Headgearxe2x80x9d, American Society for Testing and Materials, designations F 1446-95; xe2x80x9cStandard Specification for Protective Headgear Used in Bicyclingxe2x80x9d, American Society for Testing and Materials, designations F 1446-94; Australian Standard (AS 1986), U.S. Snell (Snell 1984), and ANSI-Z90.4 (ANSI 1984).
U.S. Design Pat. No. 336,552 to Timms et al shows a crossbar over the top opening of the helmet. U.S. Pat. No. 3,425,061 to Webb discloses an outer protective shell arranged over a layer of energy absorbing material and an additional inner protective layer; forming ribs integrally and extending the layers transversely across each other provides energy absorption.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,130 to Chiarella discloses a plastic outer shell with a shock absorbent molded inner layer and a chin strap.
The helmets disclosed in the above patents and other helmets known in the prior art fail to provide protection to the frontal, temporal and occipital basilar skull, and fail to provide a helmet structure which is both shock absorbing and protective of the skull against impact forces.
A helmet is provided which is particularly for protection of the skull, including protection against injury to the apical as well as the basilar skull including frontal, temporal and occipital portions, in order to protect the skull in accidents, particularly from non-motorized sport activities. The helmet comprises a number of arched segments, each of which has an outer convex surface and an inner, substantially flat surface for engaging a generally curved surface of the skull. The segments are of cushioning material which are capable of yielding under impact forces to absorb some of the energy of these forces; it is preferably of a suitable plastic foam material made from beads such as expanded polypropylene beads or polymeric beads. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the cushioning material is made of two or more layers of deformed beads. In another embodiment within each segment there is a longitudinally extending hollow passage in which there is a relatively stiff plastic reinforcing element to resist impact on the skull from forces which are partly absorbed by the cushioning material of the segments. The helmet also includes a retaining element for engaging the chin of the wearer, the retaining element extending from the occipital and temporal areas. In an alternative embodiment, the protective helmet may include only arched segments beginning at the basilar skull, and extending downwardly, with support straps extending over the cranium and connected to the arched segments, in order to receive on the cranium of the wearer a detachable, impact resistant helmet.
Among the objects of the present invention are to provide a helmet for absorbing impacts from non-motorized sports, falls, etc. which effectively reduces or minimizes injury to the skull including the frontal, temporal, and occipital basilar skull.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a helmet which will protect against injuries to the areas below the test lines designated in current standard specifications for helmets.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a helmet which protects the human skull against injury by both force absorbing and impact resisting elements.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a protective head piece that is economical and simple to manufacture.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following drawings and detailed description of the invention.